The movement of the water and the creation of the ice hadn’t been Scion.  Eidolon approached, flying close, raising one hand to create a ragged mess of icicles where Leviathan was to land.

Hey, whaddaya know, I was right. I was specifically guessing that more capes had shown up because the we saw this power from Eidolon before. I was going to specifically mention Eidolon too, but then started thinking that it wouldn’t make all that much sense for him to stop his efforts with the ice wall against the waves.

(In retrospect, I should’ve mentioned all of that.)

Some impaled the Endbringer, but by and large, they shattered beneath him, left him scrabbling for traction and footing for long enough that Scion could shoot him again, send him through the barrier of ice as though it were barely there, tumbling.

He’s definitely on the defensive now!

Scion paused, turning to look at Eidolon, his eyes moving past Bitch and me like we weren’t even there.  His eyes settled on the hero, the most powerful individual in the world staring at the man who was arguably the fifth.

If you’re up against an Endbringer, this seems like a good team to have on your side.

His expression was so hard to read.  I knew, now, what people had meant, when they said they thought his face was a mask, a facade.  Though it was expressionless, though there was nothing I could point to to explain why I felt the way I did, somehow I sensed disgust from him.  Like nobility looking at dog shit.

…if they can work together, that is. Sheesh.

Scion raised one hand, and there was a brilliant flash, too bright to look through.

When the spots faded from my vision, I saw that one of the damaged buildings was emanating that same light the pieces of the car had, was toppling, tipping towards Leviathan.

It seems like his powerset primarily involves movement and maybe destruction, though the destruction may be a result of moving different parts of a thing in different directions.

Scion, fingertips glowing, started his slow advance as the structure was pulled atop the Endbringer.  The ripples of his footsteps erased any disturbance in the water from the building’s collapse.

Hmm.

Leviathan heaved himself out of the rubble, turned to run, only for water to rise and freeze solid in one smooth movement, forming a wall as tall as Leviathan was, a hundred feet long. 

Nice! Scion’s work still, or did more capes just show up?

He paused for a fraction of a second, to gauge which way he might go, poise himself to leap over.  Scion caught him with another golden-yellow blast before he could follow through.

Sweet 😀

Leviathan struck at one of the remaining dogs with a broad swing of his tail, caught it across the snout.  It dropped, neck snapped.  A short leap and a slash of the claw dispatched the last.

Aaand Bitch’s emotional wreckage is complete.

Scion raised one hand, and a ball of yellow-gold light slammed into Leviathan from behind, sent the Endbringer skidding across the length of the street, past Bitch and I.

Fuck yes. Let’s see what’cha got, Scion!

Leviathan leaped to his feet, reared around, swung his claws at the air ferociously.  Water around him rose, rushed towards Scion, a wave three times as high as Bitch was tall.  Three times as tall as I might be if I could stand.

Leviathan probably knows that Scion is one of the few threats he should take seriously.

Scion didn’t move or speak.

Supposedly he doesn’t do a lot of the latter in general.

He walked forward, and ripples extended from his footsteps, soared past us with some strange motive force.  The ripple touched the wave, and the tower of water collapsed before it got halfway to us, dropping straight down.

Niiice.

Liquid as far as the eye could see was being flattened out into a disquieting stillness by the ripples of Scion’s footsteps, like a great pane of glass.

So Leviathan can make water move, and Scion can make it stop moving…

Leviathan lunged up to the side of a half-ruined building, leaped down to a point three-quarters of the way between himself and Scion.  His afterimage slammed into the hero.

I have a feeling Scion’s about to no-sell this.

Scion turned his head, shut his eyes, let the water wash over and past him.  When the attack was over, he squared his head and shoulders, facing Leviathan head on, raised a hand.

Yep.

Bitch howled, a primal, raw sound that must have hurt her throat as much as it hurt to listen to.  She moved forward, pulling me with her, lifting me up.  When I sagged, she gave me a startled look.

Poor Bitch. This must hurt so much to do, to watch, to know the inevitability of the losses…

I looked down.  My legs were there, but there was no sensation.  Numb wasn’t a complete enough term to explain it.

At least paralysis can sometimes be temporary, unlike complete amputation. It’s not guaranteed to be, but it’s a possibility, and while wondering about that, you don’t have to worry about bleeding out.

“Back’s broken, I think,” the words were weak.  The calm tone of the words was eerie, even coming from my own mouth to my own ears.  Disconcertingly out of place with the frenzied, savage tableau.

Heh, yeah.

Something splashed near me.  A footstep.

I was hauled out of the water.  I felt a lancing pain through my midsection, like a hot iron, gasped, sputtered.  Through the beads of water on my lenses, I couldn’t make out much.

There we go. So who’s come to Taylor’s rescue?

Bitch, I realized.  She wasn’t looking at me.  

!!

That’s just about the last person I was expecting. What are you doing out here?

Her face was etched deep with pain, fury, fear, sheer viciousness, or some combination of the four.

Oh jeez. Did Leviathan mess with her dogs?

I followed her gaze, blinked twice.

Her dogs were attacking Leviathan, and Leviathan was attacking back.  He hurled two away, three more leapt in.

That’s… more than usual.

Is this why Rachel wasn’t present at the meeting? Did she go off to the doghouse and bring every dog she could even remotely trust in battle?

After all, if there’s anything that warrants using even the untrained dogs as hellhounds, it’s an Endbringer.